BY LAUREN VESPOLI | With a Drama Desk Award under its belt and a roster of famous alumni that includes actress Kerry Washington (“Scandal”) and comedian Jordan Peele (“Key & Peele”), Chelsea’s TADA! Youth Theater offers one of the most prestigious musical theater programs for young people in New York City —and most of its performers aren’t even old enough to drive a car.
Founded by Janine Nina Trevens and Linda Reiff in 1984, TADA! reaches more than 50,000 children and families each year through its mainstage productions, in addition to its classes, camps, birthday parties, and signature Resident Youth Ensemble (a free pre-professional theater training program for kids ages 8–18).
In addition to sparking a passion for the performing arts in young performers and honing their skills onstage, a large part of TADA!’s mission is helping the children who participate in its programs learn and develop holistically.
“Kids are learning how to just perform in school to please a teacher or to get a good grade on a test — rather than learning about collaboration and creative play and really strengthening their brains to think outside of the box, to think for themselves, to be responsible, to have a feeling of success based on their own work,” said Trevens, who serves as the company’s Executive and Artistic Director, and has a background in psychology, education, and stage management. “TADA! really does that, especially [through] working on characters that are written for kids.”
Earning a spot in TADA!’s resident ensemble is highly competitive. According to Trevens, 300–600 children typically audition for 10–25 spots each fall. And while prospective ensemble members must have passion and talent, ever since its conception, TADA! has also prioritized finding a diverse cross-section of city (and tri-state area) kids, making a special effort to include disadvantaged kids and families in the free program.
In addition to high-level musical theater training, ensemble members receive access to personal and pre-professional development programs, including a job readiness apprenticeship program and college tours and admissions assistance. This year, the theater brought in a program called “Girls Talk, Guys Talk” to help the company learn more about body image, sexuality, and how media portrayals might affect them, Trevens said.
“One of the things that we instill in our ensemble is really the fact that you are part of a community, and that you can make that a better place,” Trevens said.
Children and families looking to get a taste of TADA! this summer can participate in the theater’s weeklong camps. Full-day camps, available for children ages 6–14, take children through the entire creative process, from the conception to performance of a mini-musical in just one week, with guidance from professional teaching artists. Half-day “mini-camps” are also available this summer for ages 4–5.
In addition to providing a safe, creative space for kids and teens, Trevens takes pride in the opportunities TADA! offers local artists. TADA! involves 20–40 artistic and production people with each of its three annual mainstage shows, and also employs nine full-time and five part-time artistic, administrative, and educational staff, Trevens said.
“Employing the number of people we employ in New York, and allowing people to make money as an artist and stay in New York — that’s something I’m very proud of at TADA!” she noted.
This season’s final show, “Adventures from Ezra Jack Keats: Skates! & Maggie and the Pirate,” opens July 9 and runs through August 4. The two-part show serves as the finale of TADA!’s two-year-long 30th anniversary celebration. Both pieces are adaptations of the picture books by Ezra Jack Keats, in honor of the late author’s 100th birthday. “Skates!” is a dance piece that follows the adventures of a pair of dogs who teach themselves to roller skate.
“[The kids] had to take a stab at learning how to roller skate and master the skill,” said Associate Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer Joanna Greer. “It’s a fun show for kids and adults.” “Maggie and the Pirate” tells the whimsical story of a girl named Maggie who sets out to find her stolen pet cricket.
This September, audiences can look forward to TADA!’s Banned Broadway Project, during which teens from the ensemble explore banned and censored musical works from Broadway and Off-Broadway during Banned Books Week. The mainstage musical season will begin again at the start of 2017, and include productions of “Everything About A Day (Almost),” which Trevens described as “a musical review in the day of the life of a kid,” and “Odd Day Rain,” which takes place in the future and reckons with technology’s benefits and pitfalls.
As for TADA!’s next 30 years, Trevens said she’d love to be able to purchase their building at 15 W. 28th St. and find an additional space to house classes and a workshop for kids interested in the behind-the-scenes aspects of theater. She hopes to eventually be able to produce five mainstage shows each year, allowing even more people to be involved with TADA! And, as the first youth theater program to win a Drama Desk Award, Trevens dreams of one day seeing TADA!’s work in children’s theater recognized with a Special Tony Award.
Awards aside, when asked about her proudest moments from TADA!’s past three decades, Trevens cited the impact that the theater has made in the lives of the kids who sing, dance, and act their hearts out on the TADA! stage.
“I think what’s happened over and over is knowing that we are actually giving kids a place where they do feel good about themselves, where they fit in, where they are successful, and where they really learn that they have a voice, and learn that they can do whatever it is they want to do in life,” she said.
TADA! Youth Theater is located at 15 W. 28th St. (btw. Fifth Ave. & Broadway. “Adventures from Ezra Jack Keats: Skates & Maggie and the Pirate” will run on Tues.–Sat., July 9–Aug. 4, and is recommended for ages 3+. Tickets are $25 ($15 for children, with limited tickets at $15 general, $10 or children). Spaces are still available at TADA!’s weeklong camps for ages 6–14, running now through Sept. 2, and two-week mini-camps for ages 4–5, which begin July 11. One camp is $485 per camper deals available with multiple camp bookings). Visit tadatheater.com or call 212-252-1619. Find them on Facebook at facebook.com/TADAyouththeater and on Twitter at @TadaTheater.
